As part of my on-going process of maintaining my awareness and health, I am renewing my focus on my breathing. Breathing is an interface in our bodily functions between our conscious mind and our physiology.
By observing our breathing, we can gauge our stress level – am I barely breathing; taking full, relaxed breaths; or chest breathing in an activated way?
We can also increase or decrease our activation level through breathing in consciously chosen patterns. Simply breathe into the belly, through an open mouth, to cool and relax. It’s like a gentle massage to the adrenals, telling them they can relax now. If you need to relax in the winter or coolness, just switch to breathing through nostrils. Breathe into the chest, through the nostrils, to activate. This kind of breathing turns on your adrenals and says, Let’s Go.
Reintroducing alternate nostril breathing into my routine showed me how much I am pushing myself lately. I noticed that I was forcing the breath in and out ever so slightly, using more muscles than necessary. As I relaxed, the breath began flowing in and out on its own and that’s when I could tell how tense I was before the shift.
Generally, it is best to let the air move naturally. Air will naturally flow back into the lungs to fill the vacuum from the exhale and when the lungs are done with the air in them, there’s a natural letting go of it to empty again. Observing this natural in and out, give and take is a simple, yet powerful meditation. It’s a reminder of letting go, and letting the air breathe you.
Alternate nostril breathing helps balance the solar and lunar energies in our mind and body and is best for meditating and calming the mind.
The right nostril is heating and the left is cooling. We naturally alternate predominantly using left and right nostrils every few hours throughout the day and night.
The right, heating nostril is helpful for digestion. Making sure this nostril is open before eating can help in that direction. If you need to complete digestion while lying down, lay on your left side, to open your right nostril.
The lunar, left and cooling nostril is helpful to relax and sleep. Try lying on your right side, to open the left nostril when you want to relax.
A more intensive use of breath that you might explore is pranayama, or control of prana (vital energy). It is one of the eight classic limbs of yoga. Pranayama includes many practices that can profoundly affect your physiology and consciousness, so it’s important that you have a local teacher who can guide you to use the proper techniques for you at any given time. What’s best to use can shift with the seasons and your own condition.A pranayama teacher should be using the practices long-term, on a regular basis themselves, not only taken a class or workshop on it. Look for an Ayurveda practitioner or yoga teacher to help you with this.
Enjoy your breath—it’s free and freeing.
